Bitter Frost
by hellomynameismarcy
Summary: Simon Petrikov travels with his little companion Marceline. But in the wreckage of their city, what happens when Marcy becomes deathly ill?
1. Our camp in the woods

I wake up to another gray sky. Oh, how I miss the blue. I sit up and crack my back. I hate sleeping on the ground, but Marcy needed the sleeping bag more than I do. She is so small. So fragile. Who will take care of her when I'm gone? Who find her food and shelter when I go insane? Stop there Simon. Dangerous thoughts lead to wearing the crown again. We can't have that. _**Not yet.**_I look around to see if there were any animals that I could skin and roast, so we could have breakfast. No, nothing. We have been living off of cereal for weeks. I don't want Marceline to go hungry, but I don't want to take her back into the city. I can't leave her here.  
"I'm hungry." I heard a little voice say. Marceline had woken up.  
"I know dear. I am too." That's all I can say. We barely have any food left. Marceline gets up and walks in a circle around the camp. She does this every morning, so she can stretch herself out. I think about how long we have stayed in this spot. It has been at least a month since we first set up here. It's about time we start traveling again. But I know Marcy isn't strong enough. So I know I have no choice. I start packing up our things so we can get going.  
"Are we moving again?" Marceline asks. I nod my head and motion for her to come along. I notice she can't run very fast. I need to get some food into her. I pick her up and we go on our way.


	2. Return to The City

"Simon, I don't want to go back to the city! It's scary there!" Marceline pleaded at me.  
"I know darling. But we need to get you some food." I say quietly. The city is exactly how I remember it. Smoke lingers in the air, around the fallen buildings. Bombs that never went off in the streets. It was too dangerous here for a seven year old. I hold her close to me and we start walking down into the streets. We saw several buildings that hadn't fallen from the bombs, but I was looking for a grocery store, or an old apartment building even. I remembered the restraunt Betty and I would always go to. But I couldn't remember the name. The crown was making my memory cloudy, and there wasn't much I could remember.  
"Simon, please put me down. I don't like being carried." Marcy said  
"Marcy no, you won't be strong enough to walk all that way." I responded to her in the nicest way that I could. I hated hurting her feeling. I know she didn't want to be carried, and that it reminded her of her mother, but there was nothing I could do. She wouldn't be able to walk very far. About fifteen minutes later, we came across, what looked like and old cafe. I walk up to the door but it's locked. I laugh inside my head. Who would have time to lock their doors when bombs were exploding. It didn't make sense. But I found myself a decent-sized rock and threw it at the window. I climbed in with Marcy still in my arms, making sure her head didn't get cut on the broken glass.  
"Remember what I told you Marceline?" I said to her, hoping she remembered.  
"Yes, Simon. Vandalism is wrong." She said in a tired voice. I knew she was getting weaker. Maybe we would find food here.


	3. The Old Cafe

I make my way around the rubble, to what used to be a kitchen. I push open the door, to see a happy sight. _There were multiple cans of food_, that we could pack up and take on our way. This would surely be enough to make the trip, too look for a new camp. I sit Marceline down on an old counter and start gathering the soup cans. I take of of my pack and unzip it to get the can opener out. I grabbed one of the cans and opened it up, and gave it to Marcy. She quickly drank whatever kind of food it was inside. After she finished, she jumped down from the counter and grabbed my hand.  
"Can I walk now ?" she asked hopefully.  
"Well...I suppose you can. Just for a little while." I was so happy to see the smile on her face. We had just gotten out of the kitchen when Marcy let go of my hand. I turned around to see that she was on the floor, on her hands and knees, _coughing_ very hard. I quickly bent down and picked her up, just too see that she had passed out. She was limp in my arms.  
"No...no Marcy wake up. Wake up darling please!" I cried out. I knew she wasn't dead. But she looked very sick. Her color was all wrong and her face was so cold. I needed to find her medicine. But where?  
_"Don't leave me Marceline...I need you."_


	4. The Crown

"Simon...Simon" I heard the sly voice say. The crown sat next too me, and I pushed it away slightly. After searching for medicine, I had come back to camp. Marceline still hadn't woken up. I am so worried about her.  
"Don't you push me away! After all I have done for you!"  
I put my head in my hands. I just wanted it too stop.  
"Please just leave me alone." I said in a muffled voice. All of a sudden I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up, hoping it was Marceline's worried little face, but it wasn't. But what I did see astonished me. _It was Betty._ My beautiful Betty. I stood up, realizing tears were streaming down my face.  
"Is it really you?" I say, in the best voice I can. She nodded her head and put her hand on my face. I could feel the warmth of her skin.  
"Leave her Simon. Leave the child. It could be you and me, forever." She said.  
That was when I looked down into a puddle, to see the my reflection was alone. I was alone. The sly voice of the crown spoke to me again. "Simon, it could be just us. I'm all you need. I can be your princess."  
"No...no! You pushed away my Betty, and now you dare take the shape of her?! I'm not going to let you take away my little girl!" I shouted at it.  
The thing laughed. "You think of her as your own?"  
"Marceline is family too me! She needs me! I need...her." I said, slowly calming down.  
"Simon, you don't need her. You have me. I'm all you need."  
"I'm...sorry. Please forgive me." I said quietly. What had I done? This crown, kept me alive, showed me what true power feels like! And this is how I repay her? I am so selfish. But now it's angry. I hear nothing but the wind now. I sit back down on a log, and the tears begin to flow again.


	5. There has to be a Hospital somewhere

I wake up on the ground, realizing that I must have cried myself to sleep. I rub my head, and groan. I have a huge headache. I pull some can with a faded label out of my pack and open it slowly. It is some kind of liquid, or maybe some kind of fruit. I quickly drink it and throw the can into the leaves. I glance over at the sleeping bag, with my tiny sick Marcy inside it. I walk over and pick her up. She looks even worse. I pack up our things once more and head out. It was a city, there had to be a hospital somewhere. I pick up Marceline and we head back into the saddening city. Soon we would go and find a town of sorts. I took a deep breath and smelled the smoke that lingered in the air. I look around the streets and remember when they were full of people. I carefully make my way around the pieces of stone and glass that covers the ground. I wrap my arms more tightly around Marceline and I start running. I'm afraid that if she stays like this any longer, she will die. I need her. I can't let her die. I promised to save her.


End file.
